In an effort to combat the high unemployment rate and frozen credit markets, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act late last year. The federal government has distributed several million dollars to Small Business Development Centers across all fifty states to help small business begin exporting and increase sales overseas. In New […]

Sharna Johnson Monthly unemployment numbers in Curry and Roosevelt counties dipped to rates that haven’t been seen in two years and officials are crediting expanding industries as the reason. The most current data available from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions shows in April, Curry County’s unemployment dropped to 4.2 percent and Roosevelt County’s […]

Clyde Davis “Today, nearly 15 million Americans are still out of work. But even that may not be an accurate figure because the real unemployment numbers are probably a good deal higher than the “official” rate. The official rate doesn’t count the underemployed and people who’ve given up and simply dropped out of the labor […]

By Sharna Johnson: Freedom New Mexico Local officials say financial ripples in the milk industry are the major reason unemployment has jumped across Curry and Roosevelt counties. Those same officials believe it will be short lived as the industry emerges from its economic difficulty. The latest data released Thursday shows in February, unemployment in Roosevelt […]

By Argen Duncan: PNT senior writer The unemployment rate in Roosevelt County has almost doubled compared to a little more than a year ago, and officials are blaming hard times in the dairy business. Matt Barela, co-manager of the Curry County Workforce Connections office and spokesman for the Roosevelt County office, said Roosevelt County unemployment […]

By Sharna Johnson: Freedom New Mexico While economists are declaring the recession nearly over, two Portales business people said the town seems somewhat insulated from the national economic peaks and dips. More than 80 percent of economists believe the recession is over and an expansion has begun, but they expect the recovery will be slow […]

By Gabe Monte: Freedom New Mexico Local economic development experts said Cannon Air Force Base’s transition to a special operations wing has softened the blow of unemployment in the area. New Mexico’s unemployment rate climbed to 4.9 percent in December, a 53 percent jump from 3.2 percent a year ago. Smaller increases occurred in Curry […]

Freedom Newspapers French students, joined in some instances by union members, have been rioting in the streets for more than a week. Is this simply a rite of spring in la republique, where street demonstrations against the establishment that often turn violent are something of a national tradition? The answer in part is yes. But […]

By Mike Linn The parking lot of the state labor department’s Clovis branch was virtually empty Thursday afternoon. Inside the building, Bethany Hanner — a 20-year-old who lost her job on Tuesday — searched the labor department’s online database for work. “This place has been helpful,” she said. She was the only one there looking […]